War of words continues between SPFL and Rangers
THE war of words between Rangers and the SPFL was ramped up once again last night – just 24 hours after the ongoing cinch saga appeared to have come to an end with a Hampden ceasefire.
Douglas Park, the Rangers chairman, called for a Scottish FA investigation into the sponsorship drama and accused the SPFL of bullying and bringing the game into disrepute.
But the League quickly hit back and insisted they would relish the chance to ‘set the record straight’ after agreeing a new deal with cinch in an attempt to secure cash for member clubs.
Rangers refused to display cinch logos on their shirts or use branding for the used car sales firm after expressing concerns over the £8million deal that was signed last summer.
The Ibrox board insisted they were ‘fully vindicated’ in their stance on Wednesday and, in a statement last night, a spokesperson for Parks of Hamilton Ltd said: “We were not surprised to learn from the media announcement last night that the SPFL have finally acknowledged Rangers legitimately engaged rule i7 in June of last year and thus, vindicated the stance held by the club for over a year. It is not for us to speculate as to why the SPFL leadership sought to ignore their own rules for so long.
“The fact that the SPFL prevaricated and continued to stall an arbitration process they themselves initiated in August last year, and which was ruled upon by the court of appeal in October, underlined the weakness of the case they truly had. Were it not for our interim interdict, it is clear their strategy was to try and bully one of their members and shareholders; a strategy which they have employed on numerous occasions.
“Throughout the last year, Park’s have kept their counsel as the SPFL leadership insulted us and misled the SFA, their member clubs, their title sponsor, and various other stakeholders in Scottish football.
“We have a long-standing and proud association with Scottish football, and it was entirely wrong that we were compelled to take the SFA to court because the SPFL decided to abuse the SFA’s arbitration process. We believe that the SPFL and members of its leadership have brought the game into disrepute and have failed, as have the SPFL as an organisation, to act with the utmost good faith towards their members.
“The SFA must carry out an independent investigation into this issue which has cost all parties involved hundreds of thousands of pounds. Despite being awarded expenses in court, Park’s will not recover all their legal fees nor be compensated for the reputational damage caused by the SPFL. Finally, the glaring omission from the SPFL’s statement was an apology. The SPFL leadership owe their
members an apology, they owe Park’s an apology, they owe the SFA an apology and they also owe an apology to Rangers. Unfortunately, they seem to lack any accountability and would rather spend their members money than admit their failures.”
That provoked a furious response from Hampden as the League attempted to defend its position following the sponsorship announcement that raised as many questions as it answered earlier this week.
The deal was hailed by chairman Murdoch MacLennan and Neil Doncaster, the chief executive, and was approved by Premiership clubs following discussions with cinch over their title sponsorship package.
A spokesperson for the SPFL said: “We note with interest Park’s version of events.
“We are currently bound by the confidentiality of the legal process. Frustratingly, we have had to keep our counsel throughout.
“However, we have written to Rangers and Park’s seeking confirmation that this confidentiality no longer applies, following yesterday’s announcement of our revised title sponsorship agreement with cinch.
“If they agree to our proposal we will be able to provide a full and frank narrative to our member clubs. We very much look forward to the opportunity to set the record straight.”